Tag: Crew Dragon
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SpaceX has ‘aggressive’ schedule leading up to crew flights
A prototype of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spaceship blasts off May 6 on a test of the capsule’s abort system. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett Staying true to a corporate philosophy that favors high-visibility flight tests, SpaceX plans to continue wringing out major parts of the company’s human-rated Dragon spaceship in a sequence of dramatic flights leading up…
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Photos: SpaceX’s passenger spaceship flies on first test run
It didn’t go into space, but SpaceX’s Dragon crew capsule fired off a launch pad at Cape Canaveral on Wednesday for a 99-second test flight of a crucial safety mechanism that would save astronauts from a catastrophic rocket failure. The 8-ton spaceship blasted off at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT) from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40…
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SpaceX crew capsule completes dramatic abort test
Updated at 12 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT) with details from Elon Musk The Crew Dragon capsule blasted off from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT). Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now A rocket-powered prototype of SpaceX’s human-rated crew capsule vaulted off a launch pad at Cape Canaveral on Wednesday for a…
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Video: Dragon test articles flies pad abort profile
A test article of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon flew on an arcing minute-and-a-half demonstration flight over Cape Canaveral on Wednesday, launching atop eight 3D-printed rocket thrusters and descending to a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean. The 20-foot-tall spaceship took off at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT) to test the Dragon’s abort system, which would help…
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Don’t blink: SpaceX crew escape demo will go by in a flash
SpaceX plans to launch an unmanned test model of the company’s Dragon crew capsule Wednesday on a whirlwind 107-second flight through the skies over Cape Canaveral. The 8-ton prototype spaceship will only reach a mile an altitude, but the trial aims to verify the Dragon capsule can safely escape from a launch failure and save…
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Photos: Dragon prototype poised for abort test
SpaceX’s new Dragon crew ferry craft is in position for a key test Wednesday of the capsule’s safety system designed to whisk astronauts away from a dangerous rocket mishap during launch. Standing roughly 20 feet tall with a takeoff weight of approximately 10.5 tons, the Dragon capsule is a prototype of the spaceship SpaceX is…
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SpaceX preps for test of Dragon capsule’s life-saving abort system
SpaceX ground crews transfer the Dragon pad abort vehicle to the launch pad. Credit: SpaceX A commercial spaceship designed to ferry U.S. astronauts into orbit by 2017 is set for a major test Wednesday, when SpaceX plans to blast the capsule away from a launch mount at Cape Canaveral on a mile-high demo flight to…
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Dragon pad abort test set for early May
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon pad abort vehicle during a ground test. Credit: SpaceX A major test of the system that would shoot SpaceX astronaut crews away from a failing rocket is scheduled for no earlier than May 5 from a specially-built mount at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad, NASA announced Tuesday. The four-hour window for…
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SpaceX, Sierra Nevada get more time to finish flight tests
The Dragon capsule for SpaceX’s pad abort test seen inside a test chamber. Credit: SpaceX NASA has extended development agreements with SpaceX and Sierra Nevada Corp. past a March 31 deadline, giving the companies more time to complete delayed tests on commercial spacecraft intended to one day ferry astronauts into space. The extensions do not…
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Falcon Heavy rocket hangar rises at launch pad 39A
SpaceX’s new hangar goes up at launch pad 39A. Credit: Justin Ray/Spaceflight Now SpaceX began erecting a new hangar at a former space shuttle launch pad in Florida last week, moving the historic facility closer to launching astronauts again. Positioned at the south perimeter of launch pad 39A, the hangar sits on the gravel crawlerway…